Her relationship with her outspoken father and coach Damir Dokić, on whose advice she switched allegiance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in November 2000, was the subject of much media speculation over many years.

Dokic made a serious return to tennis in 2008 and finished 2009 back in the WTA top 100, but thereafter struggled badly with form and injuries, and ceased playing professionally in 2014.

[3] Her family lived in Osijek until June 1991 when, due to the instability of the breakup of Yugoslavia, they settled in Sombor, Serbia, for a short time before immigrating to Australia in 1994 when Dokić was 11 years of age.

"[13] During the spring clay court season, Dokic reached the quarterfinals of the Tier I events in Hilton Head, South Carolina and Rome (upsetting Venus Williams en route), as well as earning Fed Cup victories over Kim Clijsters, Anna Kournikova and Sandrine Testud, respectively.

Later that year in doubles, she teamed with Conchita Martínez to reach the final of the French Open, where they were defeated by Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez, in straight sets.

[23] Dokic reached the final of the Open Gaz de France, where she was forced to hand a walkover to Venus Williams, after her first victory over Monica Seles a day earlier, due to a right thigh strain suffered in her win.

She also reached the semifinals of Los Angeles, losing to Chanda Rubin,[27] and Montreal, notching a victory over Martina Hingis, before retiring hurt against Capriati.

In 2003, Dokic hired Borna Bikić from Croatia to replace her father as her trainer whom she accused of "wrecking her career", after several outbursts and volatile behavior at tennis tournaments.

"[32] She later identified her switch to Yugoslavia as the biggest regret of her career, and said her father was subjecting her to extreme physical and mental abuse at the time he made the decision for her.

She held a match point on her opponent Virginie Razzano's serve and hit a forehand winner that caught the line, only to have the umpire rule the ball out.

Under the guidance of new coach Nikola Pilić, after over three months away from the tour due to injury, Dokic qualified for a $10k tournament and reached the semifinals of the main draw before losing to Astrid Besser.

She then entered the following week in a $25k tournament in Florence, Italy, and won saving two match points against Mirjana Lučić in the quarterfinals, and defeating seventh-seeded Lucie Hradecká in the final.

In an interview after her first-round win at the Australian Open, Dokic said that she still had no contact with her father, but was building relationships again with her mother and younger brother, and that she had been dating her boyfriend, Tin Bikić, for five years.

At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Tennessee, she won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw, where she lost in the first round to top-seeded Wozniacki 1–6, 2–6 in 48 minutes.

Dokic withdrew from the MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida[43] and the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, citing fatigue.

[citation needed] Dokic then travelled to France to play ITF level tournaments, started with Joué-lès-Tours, a $50k event where she was the top seed.

The next week, she participated at a $75k tournament in Vancouver, where she won her third straight title after defeating Virginie Razzano in a two-sets final, capping a 15-match winning streak.

Though she returned to the top 100 after winning three tournaments and 15 matches in a row, Dokic lost in the first round qualifying draw of the US Open to Laura Robson.

She backed up her strong performance by defeating fifth seed and former doubles partner, Nadia Petrova in straight sets in the second round to advance to her first WTA quarterfinals appearance since the 2009 Australian Open.

In the first round of Dubai, Dokic, hindered by illness, committed 41 unforced errors and 11 double faults to give victory to an in-form Flavia Pennetta losing.

Dokic faced a resurgent Michaëlla Krajicek of the Netherlands, who had defeated defending champion Alisa Kleybanova in the second round and prevailed to advance to her first WTA Tour singles final since the Zürich Open in October 2003.

In the quarterfinals, Dokic faced Swedish player Johanna Larsson whom she dispatched, setting up a semifinal berth against Romina Oprandi, who had upset world No.

As the defending champion and seventh seed at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Dokic started her campaign successfully, defeating Kristina Mladenovic but then lost against fellow Australian Olivia Rogowska, 6–3, 4–6, 6–7.

She then suffered three consecutive first round losses at Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston, losing to Gisela Dulko, Ekaterina Makarova and Galina Voskoboeva.

Dokic was set to return to tournament play at the ITF Challenger tour in September, but was forced to cancel all commitments due to continuing problems with her wrist.

[64] She received a wildcard to play alongside Storm Sanders at the doubles competition; in the first round, the team lost to Magdaléna Rybáriková/Stefanie Vögele in what was Dokic's final appearance in a rating event.

This coincided with ATP and Australian Open organisers allowing Alexander Zverev to continue competing in the Men's Draw while facing domestic violence trials in Germany.

[68][69] Dokic's autobiography, Unbreakable (ISBN 9780143784227), co-written with sports journalist Jess Halloran,[70] in which she relates the story of her life, career, and the years of physical and mental abuse by her father, was published on 13 November 2017.

[citation needed] In 2023, again co-written with Halloran, she published Fearless: Finding the power to thrive, which tells of how she has survived poverty, trauma, and family violence.

[72] A documentary film based on her autobiography, called Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, co-directed by Halloran and Ivan O'Mahoney,[73] was released in Australian cinemas on 7 November 2024.